Guess who’s back?
Pat Spillane said early last season that Mayo would not win the All-Ireland because Cillian O’Connor would be out injured with a serious ankle injury.
Such is the importance of the Blallintubber man, the veteran pundit believed that he would be the difference between lifting the Sam Maguire or not.
In the end, you could say Spillane was correct, for although Mayo were the team to finally beat they seemingly unbeatable Dubs, they still fell short on All-Ireland final day at the hands of Tyrone.
With the sharp shooter so clinical from dead balls, and laser eye’d in front of the nets, he was a huge miss for the Connacht champions.
That being said, it gave a platform for players like Tommy Conroy and Ryan O’Donoghue to really step up to the plate.
O’Donoghue in particular has taken this mantle well, especially as Conroy has been ruled out of this campaign with a cruciate ligament injury.
The Belmullet man even took over free-kick taking responsibilities and has not disappointed, proving to be an expert marksman in this year’s league campaign.
However, with the final against Kerry looming, James Horan has just received the biggest boost he could have hoped for, as Cillian O’Connor is deemed fit enough to play.
The all-time championship top scorer has officially been named on the bench, and may gets some match minutes just in time for the upcoming Connacht championship.
Horan has used this league campaign to experiment and unearth some new talent into the fold, none less impressive than young Aidan Orme.
Throw in the fact that Jason Doherty has also returned to the fold and Mayo are looking like they could have real fire power this year.
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